This tangy, zesty sauce instantly became a family favorite. I created it when my family came in from out of town; everyone raved about it and my husband begs me to make it all the time.
In reading the reviews for this sauce I wanted to tell the reviewer who said that this was a base sauce and to other reviewers who were modifying the sauce. This is not a Italian base sauce, each time you correct the sauce by adding other ingredients you further complicate the taste of the sauce. In otherwords, your breaking down the original sauce. This sauce as in the original recipe is a good tangy sauce that has muliple uses. The Italian base tomato sauce is plum tomatoes, with 4 cloves garlic, blend and simmer for 30 minutes. The last 10 minutes add a whole stem of fresh basil and simmer the remaining 10 minutes. Then pull the basil out of the sauce, remove from heat and let it cool. Store for furture use. Then when you need a sauce for spaghetti, or as a sauce for meat like Chicken Parmesan or stuffed shell, you seasn the sauce to the dish. Good taste sauce, I'll use it for shell and chicken parmesan.
Read MoreI've tried this method twice now, each time tweaking some of the ingredients to try for a better result. It just wasn't very good either time. I've had a much better result using canned tomato sauce. The flavor and consistency is just off but I can't really determine exactly what needs to be done to fix it. I used about 18 roma type tomatoes from my garden, used dry oregano and 1/2 cup of fresh chopped basil. We don't like a hot pasta sauce so I omitted the cayenne altogether and used fresh ground pepper for the flavor. In addition I added about 1/4 cup dry sherry, 2 cans of chopped portobello mushrooms, extra garlic, and 2 bay leaves. I pureed the sauce in my blender because my kids prefer a smooth sauce. The 2nd time I made it I even added in a can of tomato paste and a can of tomato sauce, hoping to richen and improve the flavor but it didn't help much. Just as a footnote this this, a trick I learned a while ago is that if the sauce tastes too acidic add 1 or 2 Tbsp. butter, mix it in and taste. Add more if needed. It should balance out the acidity. Sugar also helps reduce acidity.
Read MoreIn reading the reviews for this sauce I wanted to tell the reviewer who said that this was a base sauce and to other reviewers who were modifying the sauce. This is not a Italian base sauce, each time you correct the sauce by adding other ingredients you further complicate the taste of the sauce. In otherwords, your breaking down the original sauce. This sauce as in the original recipe is a good tangy sauce that has muliple uses. The Italian base tomato sauce is plum tomatoes, with 4 cloves garlic, blend and simmer for 30 minutes. The last 10 minutes add a whole stem of fresh basil and simmer the remaining 10 minutes. Then pull the basil out of the sauce, remove from heat and let it cool. Store for furture use. Then when you need a sauce for spaghetti, or as a sauce for meat like Chicken Parmesan or stuffed shell, you seasn the sauce to the dish. Good taste sauce, I'll use it for shell and chicken parmesan.
This was so easy & tasty. My whole family loved it. I made the recipe with 40 roma tomatoes fresh from the garden, & used a banana pepper and 1 tsp. cayenne & it was still like an arabiatta sauce. (Added a bit of sugar too!)Everything else, as is! Excellent! We used it for pasta, then the next night for a spicy Chicken Parm. (I didn't seed the tomatoes & the sauce was great...like a fresh tomato sauce from Italy...not the thick Americanized ones.) I'll use up my tons of tomatoes on this one!
Excellent. The flavor of this sauce is very good. The only thing I will do the next time, though, is to reduce the pepper. I like spicy recipes, but my husband does not. So I need to make it a little less spicy. I made ravioli and used this for the sauce. Very tasty and fairly easy to make.
I am lucky, been cooking a long time and know intuitively how to make things yummy, so I usually am able to take any recipe and make it my own AND make it 5 star! I also am lucky because in Tucson, AZ, spring is Heirloom Tomato season, so I used my own fresh 12 tomatoes from the garden. For this recipe, I used a Vidalia Sweet onion and 10 fresh garlic cloves (see photo!), all minced very fine and sauteed in 1 Tof EVOO; when they were translucent after 5-7 minutes, added diced zucchini and sauteed all another 5 minutes with lid on low. Added all to the peeled, seeded and crushed tomatoes in the slow cooker on low...and went to bed! In the A.M., the juices had cooked off; it was a very rich, thick and chunky sauce. THEN I added spices but absolutely no cayenne. Wanted to keep it strictly tomato sauce for pasta; cayenne is too weird for us, but to each their own! What I DID add was garlic powder, fresh crushed oregano and fresh basil, 1 tsp. garlic salt and 1 tsp. pepper and let it sit on low for another hour. THEN...I tasted it. NOW is the time to really hone down the flavors to make this your very own concoction, with dried herbs, spices and especially if it needs salt. Ended up adding more salt (about two teaspoons total for the recipe), granulated garlic (this is normal for me, can't have too much garlic), onion powder, dried oregano, thyme, basil and ahem, some cumin. I love how this basic recipe lets me experiment! Every time different AND zesty! Thanks, Michele!
I've tried this method twice now, each time tweaking some of the ingredients to try for a better result. It just wasn't very good either time. I've had a much better result using canned tomato sauce. The flavor and consistency is just off but I can't really determine exactly what needs to be done to fix it. I used about 18 roma type tomatoes from my garden, used dry oregano and 1/2 cup of fresh chopped basil. We don't like a hot pasta sauce so I omitted the cayenne altogether and used fresh ground pepper for the flavor. In addition I added about 1/4 cup dry sherry, 2 cans of chopped portobello mushrooms, extra garlic, and 2 bay leaves. I pureed the sauce in my blender because my kids prefer a smooth sauce. The 2nd time I made it I even added in a can of tomato paste and a can of tomato sauce, hoping to richen and improve the flavor but it didn't help much. Just as a footnote this this, a trick I learned a while ago is that if the sauce tastes too acidic add 1 or 2 Tbsp. butter, mix it in and taste. Add more if needed. It should balance out the acidity. Sugar also helps reduce acidity.
Great way to use bulk tomatoes - thanks!I doubled recipe, used ~1t. red pepper flakes instead of cayenne, diced the tomatoes (didn't peel or remove seeds), added 1 T sugar, cooked for 15 hrs over night, and enjoyed a rich, mild sauce.
This sauce would be much better without an entire teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Oh my gosh, it was SO spicy! My family could barely eat it. I'm giving it four stars, but I'm sure the next time I make it with MUCH less ground cayenne pepper, it'll be a five-star recipe.
I let this cook overnight about 12 hours in total and boy does this have a kick. I've frozen the rest so we can enjoy the rest later. Will make again without doubt. Thanks.
I used this as starter to make tomato based pasta sauce & I was intrigued. I had to modify it quite though. There was far too much cayenne pepper and I will reduce it drastically for next time. While I will rate the basic recipie as a 3 star here is what I added for my personal tase: Zucchini, extra garlic, and some tyme. I also added mushrooms, red & yellow peppers and I used fresh herbs for the seasonings. 3 hours prior to serving I added some browned & seasoned ground meat (this time I used buffalo but I typically go with lean beef).
Perfect! Yummy. Cooked overnight and throughout the day for a cookout and everyone loved it! I used it for a dip for calzones and it was great! I would double the recipe though because it only made a small amount. I added a can of tomato paste. It's very chunky, got a great tang to it!
My stepmom's parents have a huge farm and they gave us all these tomatoes so this was one of the recipes I tried first. It was excellent. The flavors are very good together and I like the small bite the cayenne gives it! I doubled this recipe because I was feeding a lot of people and it turned out great!
Great base for vegetarian marinara! I like, a few others did not peel the tomatoes before adding them to the crockpot and added red pepper flakes instead of cayenne to control the heat. (As an aside: if your sauce comes out too acidic, add a tablespoon of unsalted butter and that mellows it right away). When it had cooled after 10 hours, I whirled it around in the blender. Lovely texture...next time I might set some to the side before blending, so it is a bit more chunky. I also might add a carrot and celery to round out it's foundation. Thank you Michele for sharing; this is definitely a keeper!
Good recipe, not enough flavor for my taste though. Would add tomato sauce and tomato paste, and ground beef.
This sauce is fantastic! I've made it twice and can't wait until I have enough tomatoes to make it again. I used a combination of types, just whichever I had too many of. I did not add any cayenne because it would have been too spicy for me, so I used a couple of shakes of red pepper flakes. Yes, it is somewhat thin and chunky. I lived in Italy for a couple of years and that's how true Italian sauce is! This is the closest thing I've had to the real thing since leaving there.
I've made something like this to preserve excess fresh tomatoes from the garden -- except I don't peel or seed the tomatoes, instead running it through a hand cranked food mill at the end to remove skins and and residual seeds. Just freeze and you'll have enough tomato sauce base to last all winter!!
, I was hoping the longer it cooked, the better it would become. Actually, it got worse.
I think this is a good recipe; however, I think it does need to be cooked for 15 hours if cooking on a low setting in a crock pot in order to get a nice sauce. Otherwise, it looks more like salsa (too chunky). I diced my tomatoes instead of crushing them, and this allowed for some nice small chunks after they cooked. This is a nice chunky sauce, by the liquid part was a bit thin, so I added a can of tomato paste to bolster the consistency. I also added a pound of ground beef to make it a little heartier and more savory. Nice seasoning suggestions in this recipe, and the flavor and texture really does come out the longer it cooks.
I was very disappointed in this recipe. I put it in the slow cooker for 10 hours and it cooked down to make about 2 servings rather than the 6 it was suppose to make. The taste was a big disappointment as well. It tasted nothing like I thought tomato sauce should taste like. It was like a strange stewed tomato concoction instead. I only put in half the cayenne pepper it called for and it will still be too spicy for my kids. A big flop!
I cut the tomatoes the night before and threw everything in the crock pot the next morning before leaving for work. It cooked for about 13 hours. I was worried about letting it cook for so long because a) my crock pot seemed too big and b) there wasn't a lot of liquid in the pot. My concerns were unwarranted, it was delicious! It had quite a kick from the pepper, but the cinnamon was a great balance. I served it over whole-wheat gnocchi and it was a hit! My husband even stole a bite from my plate when his was gone! This is definitely going to be a staple around our house. Thanks!
My family loved it! I used whatever homegrown tomatoes I had in the house that a friend gave me. I didn't not use cayenne pepper, I'm not a spicy tomato sauce fan. (I'll try it next time though.) The sauce came out a golden orange in color and was quite thin. (I used the sauce a few days after I made it) I simmered it for a time with two added cans of paste. This helped the color and the texture just enough. I served it in a baked pasta dish and had leftover on the side for those in the family that like extra sauce. It was a hit! I can't wait to make up a few batches to freeze for the wintertime. Thanks! -CJ
Enjoyed the different taste of this recipe. My changes - omitted the cayenne pepper and would cook less than 10 hrs. At 10 hrs, the crock pot was creating an overcooked ring around the sauce.
Help...great great sauce but it was tooooo spicy...can someone tell me something to add to tone it down a bit..please..I want to keep it and use it but I need to make some sort of an adjustment...asap...thanks.
I am making this recipe again as we speak. I really like the fact that you can double it. I did add ground beef to it and used it for spaghetti. I used the other half as the sauce for a lasagna. We loved everything about it but didn't read the reviews before making it. My husband doesn't like spicy so I will also have to cut down the cayenne. I loved the spice but he said it was a bit much. He still couldn't stop eating it! I will keep this recipe for all homemade sauce because it was really easy and tastes great! Thanks for posting it. Linda
Wow- this was WAY too spicy for my taste. Like last reviewer, I'm sure if I tone down the cayenne to 1/3 of the recipe it will be great. Rated this 4 stars but minimizing the pepper would make this a 5 for sure.
This is an awesome italian tomato sauce. I put in about 1/4 of the cayenne and it was perfect.
I just really thought this recipe was missing something in the flavor department. Really had to doctor it up quite a bit. The consistensy was also not quite what i was expecting so I added some cornstartch mixed with water to thicken it up a little. I think this sauce would be best used for a chicken parmesan dish rather than over pasta.
I did not slow cook this for 10-15 hours as directed b/c I didn't have the time so I only did 4 hours on high. The flavors were great! It did end up condensing dramatically since I cooked it on high so maybe that is to blame, but it was super spicy! And, I only used 2/3s of the recommended cayanne per other's notes that this is way too spicy.
It's a pity these cretins don't know the difference between tomato sauce and bolanaise sauce.
I must admit, this is the first time I have found a recipe on this site that wasn't too my satisfaction. Is easy enough to make, but by the time I did all the changes to make the recipe to our liking, it was a totally different recipe.
This was a simple and tasty recipe! Easy and no need for a lot of ingredients. I used it to help me handle the surplus of romas from my garden. There was no need for the cayenne spice, though. The kids were anxiously waiting to try it because it smelled so good, but the spice was too much for them. The cinnamon was the secret to just the right amount of sweetness. Will become a regular dish in our house.
Love this! Tastes wonderful,and really makes the house smell great! Such an inviting, warm aroma...real comfort food!
I made this sauce yesterday and cooked it all night....It is thick but I'm with the others in that the cayenne needs to be removed. However, I see the possibilities with this sauce and will freeze for later use and will add as the dish dictates. I love using my crock pot for items like this.
Great flavors but I thought it was a little thin. I added a can of tomato sauce to try and thicken it up. It also didn't have the color I was looking for in a tomato sauce. But the taste was nice and spicy.
Great way to use excess tomatoes from the garden. I didn't think I would have enough toms so I added some canned toms (crushed i think, since I don't like chunky sauces). I omitted the spicy peppers bc picante spaghetti/pasta sauce is just wierd to me. The sauce is a good basic recipe and turned out very well. Thanks for the recipe, def. a keeper!
The cayenne pepper in this recipe was too much. Very spicy. I followed the recipe exactly. If you make this..do not add the cayenne!
This is pretty good if you like a spicier sauce, and of course if you don't...adjust it. No big deal. The reason I gave it only 3 stars was that it invests an awful lot of cooking time and electicity for what is a little better than average sauce.
Cut the Cayenne in half, add one more tomato and a pinch of sugar and it is tuned perfectly!
This sauce is good, but wasn’t quite what I was looking for. I had Roma tomatoes that needed used up when I came across this recipe. To make this as written, you need to like some heat with your food. We do, so the cayenne wasn’t too much for my DH and I; but would have been too hot for my extended family members.
Very, Very good!! I will cut back on the oil on the next batch but overall...WOW!
I reduced the amount of cayenne. Cooking time was less and I also put it in my vitamix to make it smooth like tomato sauce. It was so very good. Need to get lots of tomato's so I can make it in my big crock pot and freeze some. Was so yummy over wheat angel hair pasta with lightly grated fresh parm. Thanks for the Recipe as I refuse to eat anything from a can.
I'm not much of a cook, but this recipe was easy and SO delicious. I didn't have roma tomatoes but used what I had and other than that stuck to the recipe. I wouldn't change anything else. Will definately make this again!!
I'm giving it 4 stars because I had to add some additional spices to get the flavor we like. I added some red pepper flakes, sugar, garlic powder, and onion powder. This sauce is quite authentic and not like jarred/canned sauces. So, if that's what you are looking for, you won't get it with this one. This recipe couldn't be easier, and it allows you to customize it to your own taste. What a great way to use up all of the bounty of tomatoes from the garden and have something wonderfully fresh at the same time.
This is now my go-to recipe. It's easier and easier each time. Tomatoes from the farmers market have 3 times now been made into this recipe with different spices each time, but this metod for all of them.
Absolutely delicious and easy to make. It is spicy so if you don't like spicy, just add less cayenne. I will definitely make this again when I have an overload of tomatoes. Great to store for those winter months when fresh tomatoes aren't available.
This tasted great before i even started cooking it. The only bother was peeling and removing the seeds from the tomatoes. The final result made the work worth it.
It ended up tasting good, but there were definitely not enough tomatoes as this cooked. I cooked on low, and it still started to burn. We ended up adding 28oz of tomato sauce to liquify it again.
I suggest that those people who find the cayenne pepper too spicy that they use red chili pepper flakes. I just find that chili flakes works and has a much better taste in Italian recipes. Can't wait to actually try this recipe, hence the three-star rating!
Amazing! The last flat of tomatoes from our garden went into this versatile and taste-y recipe. I was slightly nervous about the cinnamon, but after about 15 hours in the crock, the flavors melded together beautifully. At the end of cooking, I used my immersion blender, which made a lovely and thick consistency. Now I am praying for spring - so I can plant more tomato bushes and make more of this yummy sauce! Thank you for posting your recipe; it's now a family favorite.
The only thing I changed was to decrease the amount of cayenne and black pepper. I figured I could always add more if I needed to. But I didn't need to. This was a great recipe - served over spaghetti.
I have made this approximately several times with excellent results. I use it as a base recipe for freezing. I fill up my largest CP (& liters I think) to the brim. I core and quarter them and leave the skin & seeds, which I am fine with in my sauce. Because I'm going to freeze them I don't add olive oil. Because I don't know what recipe I'll use them in, I don't add the cayenne or cinnamon. I chop the garlic & onion in the food processor. I leave it on overnight, probably at least 12 hours or even more. I let the sauce cool a little and use my stick blender to make it as smooth as I want. I divide it up among that hold approximately the amount in an American can (about 14 oz). When I want to use it, I thaw as much as I need. I use them in recipes, not plain as pasta sauce, so I usually saute onions, garlic, maybe green peppers, and whatever my recipe calls for (meat, veggies etc, beans, etc.) I use this sauce for almost any kind of tomatoes called for, except for tomato paste - it's too thin for than. I am completely satisfied with my results which I use all year round (we have lots of beautiful vine=ripened wonderful tomatoes)'
So easy and delicious! I slow cooked the tomatoes more like 20 hours on low! I would suggest BEFORE adding the oil and spices, to score each tomato, so that the skins can easily be slid off after slow cooking for about an hour. I did leave some skins and didn’t like the texture. Also, you can puree the tomatoes and onions first, but mine came out fairly smooth while leaving them whole.
It was a strange, dark color, very bitter and acidic, even after adding some butter and a couple tablespoons of sugar. This was way too spicy and didn't have the flavor to back up the burn.
Since it was my first time actually making it I was nervous. I followed the instructions and then added it all at once to the pot. I didn't put he cayenne pepper in I because I felt it would be too spicy I will let you know how it tastes when I get home!.
Followed the directions, added about five more Roma tomatoes. Set it at low for 15 hours. Smelled great last night. This morning ... I could smell the burn at the top of the stairs. Black, burnt mess! SO disappointed, especially since peeling and seeding Roma tomatoes isn't fast or easy.
Take the ingredients and cook them 30 minutes in Ninja Foodie! Yay, I can do this every day with my garden fresh tomatoes if I need to. I freeze and have tomato sauce all so far long.
The flavor is amazing. Don’t expect it to be an out of the box thick sauce. It is thinner and chunky. I didn’t peel or de-seed. I like spicy but if you don’t just reduce the cayenne pepper a bit. I also add a touch of sugar as suggested by other reviewers and will add a little butter if it’s too acidic. It’s rich so if you have picky kids used to store sauce this will probably not be a hit. I do think the cayenne and the cinnamon balance quite well even if you cut the cayenne in half. I usually do 10 hours and stir here and there. I have made this dozens of times now with tomatoes from the garden and it’s one of my favorite recipes. I may try thickening a bit though for a more American version. Don’t change it too much though because the flavor is really great. I think if you use very unflavorful tomatoes, this would not be as good.
I wanted to use up some tomatoes last summer and came across this. It went from the slow cooker to the freezer. Just got some out and made it and complemented it with hot Italian sausage. It. Was. Yummy!!
My sauce turned out bitter as others have said. Lynn Rosetto Casper (Spendid Talbe on NPR) advises adding 1/4 tsp baking soda per 1 cup of sauce to reduce the acidity. I ended adding 1/2 tsp, but it did the trick. She recommended adding butter if further help is needed so I did that too. The sauce turned out wonderful. Thanks to whoever recommended adding butter so I did some research and didn't just throw the sauce away!
It was very good - different from traditional tomato sauce. I would cut back on the cayenne pepper next time. It was just a little too spicy for me but probably just right form someone else.